


Sonder

by AzuraJae



Series: Melancholic Tragedy [1]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Angst, Biohazard | Resident Evil 2 Spoilers, Character Study, Claire has a minor role, Friendship, Game: Resident Evil 2, Game: Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019), Game: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Resident Evil 2, Post-Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 6 Spoilers, Sad, non-romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24984106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraJae/pseuds/AzuraJae
Summary: Sherry finally makes the time to meet up with someone who she greatly admires to catch up on old times, but things have changed. Even she has.
Relationships: Sherry Birkin & Claire Redfield, Sherry Birkin & Leon S. Kennedy
Series: Melancholic Tragedy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812781
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	1. Promise

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished Leon's campaign in RE2make while also co-oping RE6 with my cousin and I ended up thinking a lot about Sherry and Leon's relationship. I wanted to mull on it a bit and expand it through writing, which is how this fanfic was born. This is a 2-chapter fic that I am posting at the same time (I could post it as a single chapter, but it flows better as a two part-er.)
> 
> The canon for this ending is sort of a mix between what happened in Darkside Chronicles and RE2make, with some elements taken from the old RE3 epilogue. I was sort of sad that Leon didn't participate more in helping Sherry in the RE2make, which is why I mixed some of elements of each story. However, the first chapter is sort of based off the ending cutscene for the RE2 portion of Darkside Chronicles. 
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the story!

“Leave us alone.” Leon had a hard look on her face, finally turning to face Claire with a tired, annoyed look.

Claire was staring at him, from a bit of distance away. Her face was equally as pressed and agitated as he was, though she looked more sorry. Sherry standing to the side, looking at both of them confused. They had just been talking pleasantly, when there was some topic about Claire and her brother. Eventually Leon and Claire began lightly arguing for a while, before Leon finally snapped.

“You’re looking for your brother, right?”

Biting her lip, Claire looked apprehensive. “I can’t just go, you two are inj-”

“Just  _ go _ .” Leon turned away from Claire, sighing. His arms sagged at his side, looking very tired. He rubbed his face with his hands and turned away.

The woman had an apologetic look on her face. She approached Sherry, leaning down to talk to her. “I’m sorry, Sherry. I have to go look for my brother. He’s... still missing.”

“You have to go?” Sherry asked and Claire nodded, with a sorry look on her face. “Oh…” She had hoped that Clarie would stay with her all the way and she would get to stay with her. But she understood that her brother was very important to Claire. “It’s okay, Claire, I hope you find your brother.”

Hearing this, the woman smiled. “Thank you, Sherry.”

Claire and Sherry shared one more hug and Claire stood up, clutching her weapons by her side and turned to look at them one more time. “I...I’ll be back.” She told them seriously, looking at Leon who was glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. “I promise.”

And with that, Sherry watched Claire walk away. She walked off into the wilderness, on her own. Sherry watched Claire go sadly. The young girl glanced at Leon, who was wearily looking after Claire. They watched Claire vanish from their sight and Sherry looked at Leon worriedly. 

“Leon?” 

He turned to look at her, before giving her a smile.

“She’ll be okay, Sherry.” He told her, his face twitched slightly. “Let’s just keep moving, alright?” He offered his hand to her and Sherry gladly took it.

The two marched down the road. Sherry was going to miss her, she liked Claire a lot. Sherry tried her hardest not to think about her parents right now. She never really  _ truly  _ liked them, but in a way, she weirdly missed them. But it was okay, she was with Leon and Claire now...well, Claire just left. Later, when Claire came back after she found her brother, Sherry hoped they could live together happily.

She looked up at Leon, who seemed focused on the road ahead. Sherry could tell he was still limping slightly from his injuries and he looked  _ really  _ tired. This was probably why Claire didn’t want to leave them. Noticing her gaze, Leon spoke.

“What’s up, kiddo?” 

“What’s going to happen to us now?” It was an honest question.

“Uh...well, um…” Leon thought for a moment. “Hopefully we’ll find someone down the road who will help us, but... we can keep walking until we reach the next town. It’s not too far…I think.”

“Oh.” She held his hand tighter. Honestly she didn’t feel like walking much anymore, she was really tired too, her feet hurt. But she didn’t want to tell Leon that, because he would probably offer to carry her, but she could still see that he was suffering from the scary wound hidden underneath his dirty uniform. Leon said something about getting shot, and although he didn’t say who, Sherry had a feeling it was her mother.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be okay. I  _ promise. _ ” He raised his other hand a victorious fist, giving her the most genuine smile he could, trying to pump her up.

Leon looked uneasy, as if he didn’t believe his own words, but Sherry felt comforted by his words. They  _ had  _ survived  _ all  _ that in Raccoon City, right? They’d be okay. 

They kept walking for a long while, until eventually Sherry  _ had  _ to tell Leon she was too tired to go on. Instead of picking her up like Sherry thought she would, Leon suggested that they sit by the roadside to recoup their strength and Sherry realized that Leon was losing steam too. Sherry couldn’t really tell how injured Leon was since it was getting dark, but she could tell from the way he rested his head on his arms and knees that Leon was getting weaker. Although Sherry tried to talk to him, she noticed that he wasn’t making much sense after a while and talked less. There was this bloody smell in the air, coming from Leon. Every time he moved, he looked like he was in terrible pain, though he always tried his best to hide it from her. Sherry wished she could do something to help, but she didn’t know what. Instead, she hoped that they would reach town soon, or maybe Claire would come back. Leon really needed help. 

As they rested, Sherry leaned against Leon for comfort and he reached over and patted her on the head, and they just sat in silence.

She must have dozed off because when she woke up, she found herself sleeping with her head on Leon’s lap. Sherry was startled awake by a loud sound in the distance and Leon was alert, looking down the road towards it. He already had a hand on his pistol, ready for action. Startled, by the commotion, she sat up.

“What’s that?”

“I think those are cars.” The officer responded.

Sherry’s eyes brightened up, though she saw that Leon seemed strangely concerned about the approaching cars. As the lights and the sounds of the cars grew closer, Leon stood up to get a better look. Sherry did too and she could see that the cars were green jeeps of some sort. The cars approached them and pulled over, some drifting into place. What was a quiet evening was now filled with loud car engines and the clattering of boots as people exited the vehicles. 

“Leon?” She squeaked, scared by what she was seeing.

“It’s the military.” Leon didn’t look happy.

Sherry was confused. “Will they help us?” 

He didn’t get to answer that question as the people who had been in the cars all clambered out and approached them, weapons drawn. Seeing this, Leon put his hand out to Sherry and forced her behind him. Bright lights were shined on them from the vehicles, causing Sherry to flinch. The military were the good guys right? Why do they seem...so scary…?

“Why are they pointing guns at us?” She asked Leon, but he seemed too focused to talk to her at the moment.

“Identify yourself!” One of the men shouted at them, making Sherry shirk behind her protector.

“W-we’re human!” Leon announced clearly to the squadron, his voice wavering slightly. “I’m Leon Kennedy, an officer from the RPD. And this is Sherry, a civilian.” There was a moment of silence and Leon visibly swallowed. “We…- we escaped from Raccoon City, we’re just looking to get out of here.” 

There was a pause among the squadron as they seemed to be talking over their comms about something. Sherry, who was close to tears at this point, grabbed Leon’s arm, which finally made him look down at her.

“Leon... what’s happening?” 

“We’ll be okay, Sherry.” Leon glanced down at her with a half-smile. “We’ll be okay.” He repeated, turning back to look at the men. It almost sounded like he was reassuring himself.

The soldier who appeared to be the leader, took a step forward to Leon and cocked his head to one side, gesturing to Leon’s guns that were strapped to his person. “Unarm yourself.”

For a moment, Leon hesitated, but he gave in when he saw one of the soldiers tighten their grip on their weapons. Leon quickly stripped all the guns he had on him, throwing them out in front of them and making them clatter noisily on the asphalt. He then lifted his hands to show that he had nothing else. Sherry was getting  _ really  _ scared now, and she clutched the back of Leon’s uniform as hard as she could, wishing that this would all be over.

Another soldier was looking at them through some sort of device. He looked through it, pointing it at them before giving a nod to his superior.

The man in charge, nodded, then looked to the soldiers on his right. “Take them in.”

And with that, some of the soldiers approached them. They shuffled back instinctively, but the soldiers easily caught up to them, grabbing Leon who made little resistance as they apprehended him. 

“Leon!” She squeaked, reaching over to grab him, but he had already been pulled away.

“It’s okay, Sherry!” Leon called back, looking at her over the shoulder through the two soldiers, who had put him in handcuffs and was escorting him away. “They’re just here to help!”

_ No!  _ He was  _ lying.  _ Sherry could see the fear and confusion in Leon’s eyes, and that only added to her panic. The military were supposed to be good people! Leon was hurt, why were they treating him like this? 

Suddenly a soldier grabbed her gently by the arm, startling the young girl, who turned to look at him. Instead of a face, the soldier was wearing a face and headgear that obscured his features, making him look like some voidless monster. 

“Come with me, miss. We won’t hurt you” Although his voice was kind, if not muffled, Sherry found him terrifying, maybe even more so than the zombies. 

“ _ No! _ I want to go with Leon!” She ripped her hand arm out of his grip and tried to run over to where they were trying to drag Leon into one of the vehicles.

“Hey, wait, you can’t!” The soldier reached over and grabbed her by the shoulder, a little roughly to get her to stop. She yelped in pain and that made Leon immediately snap his head around to look at her. 

"Leon, help!" She cried out, trying to pull away from the soldier. 

“ _ Hey! _ Don’t hurt her!” He struggled, whipping himself around to look at the other soldier who was holding Sherry. The other soldiers beside him seemed to be getting agitated by Leon’s sudden movements.

"Stop struggling, sir." The soldier at his side ordered. Leon looked at him in exasperation, but reluctantly complied. 

Shelly began to struggle more against the grip of the soldier, who helder her tight to keep her from breaking free. Panic and hysteria began to set in and she wanted nothing more than for Leon to come help her. She screamed particularly loud when he yanked her back and almost made her lose her balance. 

Hearing this seemed to enrage Leon, who finally decided to push one of the soldiers away and was making his way towards her. 

"She's just a kid!" He shouted at the soldiers, a look of desperation and irritation on his face, trying to push his way back to Sherry. "You can't-!…Don't treat her-"

At that moment, Leon was forced to the ground by the other soldier, who had grabbed him by his handcuffed arms and shoved him down. Leon gave a surprised and pained grunt as he hit the ground. He writhed for a moment, groaning in pain, before he suddenly went limp. The soldier who shoved him down seemed surprised by this.

“Jesus, private, don’t kill him.” The other soldier said. Hearing this made Sherry’s heart jump and she began to tear up.

The other soldier came over to Leon and checked him over. “He’s alive. Just dazed. Load him into the vehicle.”

Leon’s limp body was peeled off the ground and placed into the vehicle. Sherry couldn’t tell if he was awake or not because his face was obscured by the doors of the car. Sherry wanted to say something, anything to get them to stop, but she was frozen stiff. She didn’t know what to say or do. She wished Clarie was here, if she was, then maybe she could’ve gotten them to stop.

"Your friend will be alright, we are trying to help." The soldier holding her said to her, crouching to her level so he could seem less threatening. 

The young girl turned to him and was surprised to find that he had taken off his face gear so she could see his face. He looked young, maybe only a bit older than Leon it seemed, but Sherry didn’t trust him.

"I don't  _ believe  _ you." She told him vehemently. Sherry was doing her best not to cry and to show that she meant business, but she couldn’t stop herself from shaking.

The soldier, who looked young himself frowned and glanced at his comrades who all idly looked on in their faceless headgear. He sighed disappointedly and stood up. 

"It's better if you follow us, if you want to see him again."

Sherry looked at the soldier and back to the car Leon had been loaded into. She squinted, trying to make out if Leon was in there, but she couldn’t. The car began to start, which made her jump and she realized that if she didn’t decide now, she wouldn’t be able to be with Leon. She balled her fists, trying to hide her tears.

“Okay.” she finally said.

* * *

-~*~-

The car ride was equally parts boring and equally parts uneasy. She had been loaded into the same car with the “nice” soldier who finally got her to follow him. He had tried talking to her multiple times, but she had stubbornly ignored him. Sherry cried quietly to herself, wondering how Leon was doing. She was still angry at them for doing this to Leon and her, when they’ve done nothing wrong. Sherry had always thought the military was supposed to help them...but now...

Eventually they arrived at some sort of base with a lot of buildings, there were a lot of other vehicles and stuff. Sherry was quickly escorted out to one of the buildings and she only had a glimpse of Leon getting out of his car. She wanted to call out to him, but she had been pulled away before she could. At least, Leon was okay, it seemed anyway.

The hallways of the building were clean and shiny. It was very different from Raccoon City, it sort of reminded Sherry of her mother’s lab, but more humble. The soldiers were much nicer to her now than they were before. Maybe they were afraid of Leon for some reason, she didn’t know why. Regardless of what they thought of her, Sherry hoped that if she did that if they did what they wanted, they would let her see Leon again and then let them go. Then they could wait for Clarie to come back together.

“Hi there, you must be Sherry.” A woman approached her. She was dressed differently than all the other soldiers, a bit more casual, but she had a name tag.

Sherry didn’t respond, still apprehensive.

The woman came closer and with a wave of the hand, the soldiers who escorted here left. She crouched down to her level. Sherry, unsure of what she wanted, took a slight step back. The woman merely smiled as friendly as she could and did not invade her boundaries.

“You can call me Susie. I’m a nurse here.” She told her gently. “I was told that you might want to get cleaned up. Are you injured?”

“Not me.” She told the woman. “Leon.”

There was a look of confusion on the woman’s face before her mouth made a little ‘oh’ shape. “Is it your police officer friend?” Sherry nodded. “My nurse friends are going to take care of him, don’t worry, Sherry.”

This lady seemed much nicer than the others and seemed respectful, but Sherry still didn’t trust her quite yet. But she willingly followed Susie to a small room, which had the words ‘Ward’ written on it. Susie made her sit on the gurney and began checking on her wounds and stuff. 

Another nurse came into the room with some fresh clothes, which she offered to Sherry to change into. Sherry didn’t really trust them yet, but getting out of these icky clothes sounded like a good idea. The nurse led her to a door on the other side of the office, which opened up into a small bathroom and shower. She hastily took a quick shower and put on her new clothes, glad to be out of the old clothes. Though...She quickly folded her old clothes and took them with her, not willing to part with them yet. 

Susie didn’t try to take her clothes away from her, but asked her to put it to the side while she took a look at her wounds and took her blood among other things. She talked pleasantly and didn’t seem to ask many questions about Raccoon City, in fact she avoided them completely.

Sherry responded carefully at first, unwilling to talk to the people who took Leon away and handled her roughly, but the nurse seemed pretty friendly and she ended up opening up a little more. She wasn’t Claire though, she missed her. She hoped she would find her brother soon and come get her and Leon.

“There you go! How are you feeling?” The woman asked, as she placed the last bandaid on her scraped knees.

“Better.” She told the nurse honestly, who smiled in return. 

“That’s great to hear! I bet you’re feeling a bit hungry after all this. Do you want to get something to eat?” Susie asked, cleaning up all the supplies she had used to treat Sherry. “Maybe a sandwich?”

She shook her head. “...Where is Leon? Is... he okay?” The young girl hugged her old clothes in her arms. “He is really hurt.”

The woman paused for a moment, in thought, before she looked to Sherry and gave her a sort of sad smile. “He’s talking to some important people at the moment.”

“When can I see him?”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to see.”

Susie took her to another room, a bit smaller than the nurse’s office she was in. It had a bed, a window, and seemed to connect to a small bathroom. There were a couple sandwiches on the side table near the bed. The nurse told her to make herself comfortable and that she was going to check on a few things and that she would be back. The woman left and Sherry heard the audible click of the door, they had locked her in. She tested the door handle and it was indeed locked.

Frustrated by her situation, she sat at the edge of the table, not very hungry, hugging her old clothes to her. She felt like crying again, but she felt tired. She hoped that at least, they would let her see Leon soon. She took off her shoes and laid down on the bed, hugging her old clothes. 

She felt really lonely.

It was a long while before someone came into the room again. It was Susie, who was here to relocate her elsewhere, something about getting her ‘home’. Her home was gone, she knew that much. Sherry didn’t feel like correcting her. Sherry obediently followed her, feeling glum and depressed about this whole ordeal.

They walked down the hallway together, the woman continuing to talk to her gently about things, but Sherry was too depressed to answer or really talk. She really wanted to see Leon. At that moment, a door in the hallway opened and a couple soldiers walked out, followed by a familiar face. 

“Leon!” She cried out and she nearly bolted from the nurse’s side before she had a chance to say anything. 

At the sound of her voice, Leon, who had been hanging his head wearily, looked up. Sherry was surprised to see that he was still in his old dirty police uniform. His face was a bit cleaner, but he still was wearing his old clothes.

Upon seeing that she was okay, Leon’s face brightened up, but a soldier stepped in Sherry’s way, stopping in her tracks.

“Stop right there.” he told her.

“ _ What? _ Why?” Sherry is getting  _ really  _ angry now.

She  _ hated  _ that it felt like she was barred from stopping anything she wanted to do. She almost preferred being back in Raccoon City with Claire and Leon. Even though they were in danger most of the time, Leon and Claire were nice.

“I’m okay, Sherry!” Leon said, peeking over the soldier’s shoulder, though his eyes darted nervously. There were dark circles underneath his eyes now and he looked extra ready for bed.

“Why can’t I talk to him? Let me talk to him!” Sherry told the soldier in front of her. The soldier was much taller and bigger at her, but she could tell he was feeling a bit uneasy by her shouting.

Suddenly, the nurse appeared by Sherry’s side. “Boys, you think you can let her talk with her friend for a while?”

“But we were told by-” 

“ _ I’ll  _ talk to him later.” Susie told them. “Let them talk, okay?”

There was a pregnant pause.

“Yes, m’am.”

The soldiers stepped aside and as soon as there was an opening wide enough, Sherry rushed towards Leon, giving him a hug as he crouched down to meet her. He still looked and felt dirty, but Sherry didn’t care. These weren’t her clothes anyway. She hugged him tight, she was just happy to reunite with the one person she trusted and she knew really cared for her.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay.” Leon told her, returning her hug. He gently held her by her shoulders. “How are you feeling, Sherry?”

“I’m okay.” Sherry told him. Her eyes were drawn to the bandage on his chest, absolutely caked in blood. “But you’re still hurt…”

Leon’s eyes seemed to glaze over at this comment. He stared off for a moment, before he forced a smile. “I just had...some important police officer stuff to deal with first. I’m sorry if that scared you.”

Sherry didn’t like this Leon. He was lying to her, she could tell, but she felt like she couldn’t ask. Leon seemed to notice this and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Don’t worry, Sherry. Everything will be alright.” Leon told her, in the most genuine voice he can manage. “It’ll be okay.”

“What about you? What’s happening?” Sherry felt like crying again. There was something the adults weren’t telling her and she hated this. Even Leon was hiding something, but she could tell that there was probably a pretty good reason for that. 

“I’m...I’m sorry, Sherry…” He almost looked ready to cry himself. “It’ll be okay. I promise.” 

He gave her one more hug before he stood up and was ushered forward by the soldiers. He gave her one more smile before he turned the corner. Sherry stood in silence, looking after her former caretaker. The nurse came into step beside her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder and Sherry didn’t feel like shrugging it off this time. 

“He’ll be okay.” The nurse said softly. She tugged at her softly to keep going the other direction. Sherry kept her gaze fixed where she had last seen Leon before turning around and continuing her walk, hoping that she would see Leon again soon.

If only she knew that she wouldn’t be able to properly see him again for another fifteen years.


	2. Reunion

Sherry Birkin was now an adult woman working as an American Federal Agent. She had taken up the job sometime in her early twenties. She had lived for a long time in limbo under the care of the government. It was only natural that she would eventually join them in their role.

Part of the reason she had become an agent was that she sort of hoped that she could see Leon and Claire sometime. She still held these two people very close to her heart, even though she hadn’t seen them in years.

She had finally met Claire around 2004, when she was still living under strict government custody. She infrequently came to visit her and Claire told her about what she did now, that she was working to help victims of bioterrorist attacks with an organization named Terrasave. Sherry _treasured_ these moments very much and constantly exchanged letters with the woman she considered her mother figure. Life in government custody wasn’t very fun, but Claire’s visits always made it worthwhile.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Leon. She _barely_ knew anything about what Leon was doing now. Claire had told him bits and pieces that he was also working for the US government, but was a very special agent that was given special tasks only he could do. As a result, Leon was always being booted all over the place to deal with all sorts of problems.

“Leon always tells me that he really needs a vacation.” Claire had told her one time during her visit. “He’s always so busy. Government work always seems so crazy.”

On her 23rd birthday, a couple years after she had been officially inducted as an agent, she received a birthday card from Leon. It wasn’t much, just a cute little letter asking about how she was doing and hoping she was alright. It didn’t say much about what he was doing, but this was the first time she has heard directly from Leon since 1998. This letter reminded her of the short time she had spent with him during Raccoon City, just very nostalgic. She had hung the letter on her fridge.

He also gave her his phone number, but he very rarely ever replied. Duty calls, she supposed.

It wasn’t until the whole C-Virus incident in 2013 did Sherry _finally_ meet Leon in person.

“Leon?”

“Sherry?”

She hadn’t been sure at first, of what she was seeing. The man she saw before her now was older and grizzled, nothing like the image she had of him when he was taken away by those soldiers fifteen years ago. At the time, he seemed bruised and battered, which made sense, he just survived a plane crash. There was another woman with him, his partner for his mission perhaps?

Unfortunately, Leon and Sherry didn’t really have time to properly talk because they were instantly attacked and had a lot more complicated things to worry at that moment. They were forced to go their separate ways to continue on their mission. Sherry later learned that Chris and his now departed partner, Piers, had been asked by Leon to save her. Even though Leon wasn’t physically there to save her this time, Sherry still felt the ripples of his presence during the whole ordeal.

It would be a few more years until Sherry finally secured a chance to properly meet up with Leon. It took a while, and she even had to get into touch with Hunnigan, who was Leon’s government handler, to secure a proper date for a meetup.

She was _ecstatic._ The child in her that watched Leon get taken away was bouncing up and down at the chance of this meeting. But she knew that she shouldn’t idealize this reunion either. A lot of time has passed and things have changed since she was a little girl. She had changed, and so did Leon. Sherry didn’t want to idealize Leon in her mind, but it was hard not to.

They had agreed to meet up at a restaurant, renting a private room so they could talk things out in privacy. She had arrived there early, hoping to meet Leon as soon as he came, but she was surprised to find that Leon was already there. On the table, there was already a bottle of alcohol and a pint of glass. This sort of startled Sherry, it never really crossed her mind that Leon drank. 

Upon seeing her, Leon stood up, a soft look came over his face.

“Leon!” She exclaimed, maybe a bit too loudly. She couldn’t help it, the child in her was screaming for joy.

“Sherry.” He smiled. “Nice to see you again.”

She approached him politely, and smiled eagerly at him. “It’s been a while, Leon.”

“...Yeah.” Leon’s eyes drifted for a moment. “It has…”

It was at that moment that Sherry couldn’t really take it anymore. The young woman ran over to him, giving him a big hug, squeezing him as hard as she could. Leon was surprised and didn’t seem to know what to do at first, but then patted her head. 

“Easy there, kiddo.” The now older man said affectionately. “You’re not so little anymore.”

“Sorry..sorry..!” Sherry took a step back, trying to compose herself. “It’s just I… I thought a lot about meeting up like this for a long time..” Leon’s face softened.

“Can’t blame ya.” Leon responded, gesturing for her to sit down, which she did. After making sure she was comfortable Leon did too. “I’m... sorry I don’t contact you that often. Work’s been busy..” He sighed. “With a lot.”

“It’s okay, Claire told me a bit how busy you were.” Sherry told him. “I’m honestly so glad we had a chance to meet now. Hunnigan told me that you were on vacation.”

Leon leaned back in his chair and chuckled. “Officially? Yeah, but don’t know if they’ll decide to suspend it and ship me off to another desolate area in the middle of nowhere.” His finger tapped impatiently at the table. “Mind if I take a drink?”

Sherry nodded. She watched him pour another drink for himself and quickly took a swig even before the bubbles settled. As she watched him, there was something...oddly sad about the way Leon was now. The way he talked, the way he acted...while some of it was familiar, ultimately he was so different from the rookie cop that saved her life back then. In a way, it made Sherry incredibly sad.

Leon noticed the change in her expression, he looked really sad himself. “I probably don’t look the way you imagined, huh?”

“No! Well…” Sherry wanted to deny that statement, but that would be a lie. “Leon...you....you look sad.”

At that statement, Leon’s eyes wavered with emotion and gripped the glass tightly in his hand. “Do I?”

A long, sorrowful silence followed. Sherry felt awful. She felt like she shouldn’t have said anything. This was supposed to be a happy reunion, but now the atmosphere was so heavy, Sherry almost couldn’t breathe. Finally, Leon spoke up.

“It’s been a long time, since we last properly met.” Leon took a small sip of his glass, no longer enthusiastic as he was earlier. “A lotta things have happened since then. I wish I could say things were all rosy, but…” He fiddled with his glass, making it spin in his hands. “Life ain’t easy.”

“I’m...I’m sorry.” she managed to say, looking down at her hands.

“I know life for you hasn’t been easy either.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t.” Sherry’s mind wandered back to Simmons. She never liked him, but at the same time, he did provide for her all these years. “In all honesty, I’m glad that bastard Simmons is dead.” 

Leon laughed. “You and me both.”

The air seemed much lighter after the tension was broken. The two took this moment to order some more food (and drinks for Leon). They talked casually for a while, until the food finally arrived and they began eating. Leon pecked at his food and drank more than he ate. Sherry was a little concerned about it, but she felt like she didn’t have the right to say anything. She just focused on eating her food.

When they were close to being done, the conversation finally slowed down a bit and Sherry finally found an opening to ask. Something inside told her she shouldn’t ask such a loaded question, especially since that same something also said that she might not like what she heard, but she _had_ to know.

“Leon?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.” 

Sherry took a deep breath. “Can I ask...what happened back then? When we were taken in by the military?”

Leon paused, staring at her with a blank gaze. “Oh...uh…” He breathed out and looked to be deep in thought. “Hhm…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to answer!” Sherry chirped, realizing that this may be a bad idea after all. “I just...it’s been really bugging me all these years. I wanted to look at the records, since I have access to them now, but...I felt like I should ask you.”

“No, no, it’s not that.” Leon was leaning on the table, scratching his head with his hand. “To tell you the truth, my memory’s gotten all fuzzy. It’s all really hard to remember right.”

“Oh…” Sherry was disappointed, and a little sad. She was about to speak again, but Leon spoke again before she could. 

“But I remember the gist of what happened.” Leon reached over to his glass, wanting to refill it, before he hesitated and put it aside. “So um, what do you want to know exactly?”

“Well…” Sherry started. “I want to know what happened after we were separated. I couldn’t see you again for some reason...I’ve always wanted to know why.”

Leon brought a hand to his chin and closed his eyes to think for a moment. “Well, I was interrogated, by a bunch of people. Don’t really remember the names or what questions they asked. One thing led to another, and they were trying to get me to sign up for the government.”

Sherry frowned, recalling her own memories. “But, you were injured!” She exclaimed. “You were shot and I remember you were still hurt before you were taken away.”

The man seemed startled by this information. “I suppose I was.” He stared off to the side. “Probably didn’t really matter to them. They were saying things like ‘We can do whatever we want with you two!’.”

“Wait, ‘ _you two_ ’?” A cold realization seemed to envelop Sherry. “Did they mean me?”

Leon seemed surprised by this too. He licked his lips and then looked at her seriously. “Sherry, it’s _not_ your fault.”

“Did they threaten me, Leon?” Sherry felt the pinpricks of tears at the corner of her eyes. “Is that why you listened to them?”

There was a strange look on Leon’s face. He looked as if he wanted to speak, but couldn’t. 

This was the answer Sherry had been afraid of this whole time. Growing up, she had this weird feeling about the whole situation back then. From what she heard from Claire and the info she heard about Leon, he didn’t seem to really like government work all that much. He seemed always so tired. Sherry had one day surmised that Leon might have not wanted to work for the government at all. She didn’t know why, but Sherry had always felt like this was somehow her fault. 

And this confirmed it.

“I’m sorry!” She managed to say, trying to stop the tears. The young woman looked down in shame. “I didn’t know, I-” She just felt so _dumb._

“Hey. Sherry.” Leon reached over and touched her on her shoulder, making her look up at him. “It’s not your fault.”

“But...I-...” She sniffed.

“Listen to me carefully.” Leon’s voice was firm, but gentle and nostalgic. 

For a moment, Sherry thought she was at the roadside again, looking up at the face of a young cop. It was different now, Leon was _much_ older than he was before, he looked it too, but his eyes were still kind. 

“It is _not_ your fault.” He repeated. “Yes, they did threaten your life, but they did mine too. Even if you hadn’t been there, they would have likely pushed the same thing on me anyway. In the end, joining the government was still my choice” He sighed lightly. “I would be lying if I said that this kind of work was easy...but it wasn’t all bad. I still get to help people and I’ve made some good friends too.”

“Really?” asked Sherry, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

Leon scooted his chair closer to her, so they could talk more personally. “Yeah, Adam was the one who finally got me to join. He…” He trailed off. “He was a good friend. He really...made me enjoy my job.”

“Adam, as in Adam Benford? Our last president?” 

“Yeah. He even made sure you made it okay. He was...a good guy. A real good one.” There was a certain pain in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Leon shook his head. “Things happened sometimes. You can’t waste your life mulling over past mistakes.” The grizzled man then smiled at her. “The going gets tough sometimes, but there’s a light at the tunnel somewhere, even if you can’t see it.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m still looking for my light…” 

Before things could get too heavy again, Leon leaned forward again, breaking any building tensions. “But things worked out for now. After all, I got to see you again, right?”

Sherry smiled a little. She wasn’t too comforted by what Leon had said, there was a lot of weight behind his words and she didn’t know his whole story. As a child, she wouldn’t have understood, but as an adult now, Sherry knew that she wasn’t the one to fix Leon’s problems, nor was she the cause of any of it. Leon has led a much more different life than her.

“I guess you’re right.” Sherry eventually said. “And I’m really glad to meet you again, Leon.” _Even if things weren’t as I expected._ She added in her head quietly.

Leon chuckled. “Me too. You’re honestly a sight for sore eyes.”

The two continued to talk for a little more before it was finally time to leave. The two paid for their food and they exited the restaurant together. They stood for a moment, in silence in front of the restaurant, gazing at the street before them. 

Once again, they were at the roadside, just like so long ago. But things were different now. Sherry would have never imagined her life turning out this way. She looked at Leon, who was just soaking in the peace and quiet.

“Leon?”

“Hm?”

“Do you ever wish you were still a cop?”

Leon opened his eyes, his eyes drawing to the road. There was a long silence and Sherry could tell that Leon was thinking hard for an answer. After a few minutes, he finally spoke.

“There’s no use asking that kind of question now.”

“...Yeah, you’re right. Sorry for asking.”

That answer made Sherry kind of sad. Somewhere, deep inside, she had still always wanted her childhood fantasy to come true. That she would get to live with Claire and Leon post-Raccoon City. And get that puppy, and a parrot. 

But Leon and Claire weren’t an item, Leon was swept up in his government work while dealing with his own problems, Claire had her own goals in mind with her organization, and parrots were way too much work without the proper time and care. Even _she_ had her own aspirations now. Even so, it was a nice fluffy dream, while it lasted anyway.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” Leon turned to Sherry. 

“We’ll meet again. I know we will.” Sherry told him. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Leon’s mouth twitched in a small smirk. “I’ll look forward to it, kiddo.”

Sherry gave Leon one more hug, this time it wasn’t as tight. 

“See you later, Sherry. Take care of yourself.”

And with that, Sherry turned to make her way back home. She still had some work she wanted to take care of. She glanced behind her to see Leon still standing here, melancholic look on his face. He gave her a small wave and she waved back. She eventually rounded the corner, this time she was walking out of his sight.

It was a little...nostalgic...

Maybe she really will get that puppy after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place sometime after RE6, it could be after Vendetta since Leon already has a little bit of a drinking problem in this fic, though he's already shown shades of this since Damnation. I kept it vague, since I wasn't really sure about the details outside 'Post RE6'.
> 
> I feel really sad for Leon honestly. The RE2make version of him was so bright-eyed and wanted to be helpful. He's become so jaded by RE6, it's honestly so depressing to see that change. I sort of think that Sherry feels the same way, since as far as we know, she hasn't met up with Leon since Raccooon City (though she has met up with Claire often which is nice, in the RE6 files I think Claire officially took her in or something). 
> 
> Also, I know Claire and Leon had a bit of a ship tease in RE2make, but I personally think that a lot of it was two strangers trying to cope in a scary situation and some of it was playing alone to make Sherry happy. I'm more of a Leon x Ada shipper, even though it would be very difficult for it to be officially canon (though it technically is I guess?).
> 
> This was a sort of a look at Leon as a person through Sherry's eyes. As much as I love Leon and want to continue playing him, I do hope that he has an ending to his story soon, no matter what it is. He looks sad.


End file.
